Review of The Day of the Jackal (1973) by Alison O — 24 Apr 2005

Best in Show: Michael Lonsdale.

One for the future: n/a.

Stand-out scene: Final confrontation.

Brainer or no-brainer: Brainer.

Stands up to one viewing or repeated?: Repeated.

DVD commentary any good?:

TV.

I bought the book before I was fully aware of author Frederick Forsythe's political leanings (to the right of Hitler), which came as a double volume with Dogs of War. The latter story had a suprisingly anti-capitalist, pro-justice ending, proving the old adage that even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Still, while his female characters are as two dimensional as they come, Forsythe evidently has a keen eye for detailed plotting and can krank out interesting stories. It goes without saying that this movie's early sixties setting means that this is dated but compared to the 1997 'reimagining' this is a tense, solidly plotted affair. Edward Fox doesn't quite measure up to The Jackal I had in my head whilst I was reading the book; Fox has an air of vulnerability about him while the book's character was all steely dispassion. With 31 separate views of timepieces throughout the movie, the time critical nature of the plot development is easy to spot and as for the 7 minutes 45 second dialogue-free section towards the end, congratulations to the director for getting that past the studio. Having read the book first, I was glad that this was the case as some of the plot's more complicated moments are somewhat skimmed over in the screen adaptation, although this is one of the most successful page to screen transitions I have seen. Worth watching.